Knowing Your Travel Style

Often, clients call with a desire to see or experience a part of the world.  "I want to go to Europe."  But where does one start?  How can you see and do the things big on your list?

Defining a travel style can go a long way to help with planning your trip.  Do you want to stay in one central locale and visit places nearby, or do you want to travel many places to see and experience as much as possible?  Immersive experiences and fast-paced travel rarely go hand in hand.

Here's an example - you want to visit Western Europe and see Germany, France, the Netherlands, and more.  There are a number of ways to accomplish this goal.  One recommendation is to map out your main highlights and get a general plan framework.  The logistics of getting from place to place could be almost as overwhelming as deciding where you want to be, so you need to plan not only time in each locale but also time getting from place to place.  That's where using an experienced travel agent can help make such planning so much easier.

River cruise?  Train?  Flights?  How much time?  These were the questions one couple brought to me when planning their European honeymoon.  They wanted to visit 7 different cities in 14 days, and I had the delicate task to advise them against it.  Why?  They just didn't allow enough time (when factoring in travel logisitics) to see much of any of the cities.  So, we narrowed it down to 5 cities and extended the travel to 17 days spending more time in the cities where they had more things they wanted to see.  

When they returned, they couldn't thank me enough for helping reign in their plans so things that mattered most were highest on the list.  They had enough time in each locale to explore, and the pace of the trip was more relaxed instead of having to rush.

I'll be the first to admit that I've not been everywhere, but when I'm not intimately familiar with a destination, I have contacts with a variety of companies who employ experts who are.  Working with clients and these companies, a well-experienced and well-traveled agent can build a trip that goes smoothly and delivers.  Where do you want to go next?